Larissa Dreyfus
General Information Larissa Dreyfus was a Dundorfian Politician, former Head of State, former Head of Government and former Chairwoman of the centre-right LDP. Life Larissa Dreyfus was born in 3170 in Nordenhaus, the capital of Dundorf, as daughter of a rich businessman and a psychologist. She studied at the Nordenhaus University of Philosophy, graduatingn in 3193. After that, she became a teacher at a charter school in her district. At the same time, she became the leader of the local party organization of the LDP. She was elected member of the City Council in 3196, and soon became leader of the LDP-faction. In 3198, her political talent was discovered by Bundeskanzler Jean-Pierre Du Pont, the most influential politician within the LDP, who made her candidate for the Head-of-State-Elections that were being held in November 3200. During her campaign, she promised to promote bipartisanship and remain politically neutral while exercising her duties as the highest representative of Dundorf: "The people want cooperation, compromises and bipartisanship instead of the political polarisation of which the nation has been marked ever since the socialists tried to re-establish a totalitarian, anti-democratic regime. But we have to acknowledge the fact that there is no use in isolating them. We should instead try to reach a consensus for the sake of our nation. As Head of State, I will not act as an LDP party official, but do my best to make sure all citizens, regardless of their ideology, feel represented by me." Polls showed that about 60% of the population supported her call for more cooperation, which was a major factor for her electoral success: Larissa Dreyfus won in the first round, easily defeating two left-wing opponents. However, shortly after she assumed office, she was widely criticized for her performance due to her obvious inexperience on certain issues. When the LDP stumbled into a series of scandals just at the peak of its political power, Ms. Dreyfus reacted inappropriately, defending the LDP's cabinet members against the opposition's criticism instead of remaining neutral and demanding a full research of the allegations. She was subsequently heavily criticized even by conservative media. The famous conservative journalist Heinrich Bergmeier wrote: "Larissa Dreyfus is obviously keeping us for fools. The way she acts resembles that of a pure party loyalist and not of a neutral representative. This is fraud on the electorate." Libertarian Journalist and LDP politician Johann Goldberg defended her performance as Head of State: "How is Mrs. Dreyfus expected to react when the left-wing media comes up with a series of baseless accusations against some of her close confidantes? Should she just swallow these unfounded allegations? She reacted with common sense, and there is no reason to criticize that." Her popularity rapidly dropped from 47% in December 3201 to 21% in February 3202. She was then utterly defeated in the HoS-Elections in April 3202. She then served as an ordinary representative for the LDP in the Parliament, but still enjoyed great support among liberal LDP-members, especially when Party President Michelle Ehrenfeld lost one election after another. Dreyfus first refused to have any ambitions to take over Ehrenfeld's position, but was urged by a considerable number of MPs to do so. After the LDP's third electoral defeat, Ms. Dreyfus was drafted by dissapointed party members to run against Ehrenfeld on the National Party Convention in May 3206. She won by a very small margin of 1%, however she said she considered that "a great result". One day later, she took over the position of Mrs. Ehrenfeld and became the third Party President of the LDP. In her first speech as LDP leader, she said that she wanted to build the LPD's election platform for 3212 on economic issues As Chairwoman, she has managed to consolidate the LDP and made it second-strongest party in 3212, scoring the best result since 3202. In 3214, she was again nominated as the top candidate of her party, and slightly improved its result. Polls conducted shortly after the election showed that around 48% of Dundorfians approve her political performance. In 3215, Mrs. Dreyfus pledged to re-transform the nation's economic system from the current socialist status to a capitalist order, if she obtained a majority in the Bundestag. She also promised never to form a coalition government together with one of the socialist parties, who, according to her, "destroyed our country's economic prosperity". In 3216, the LDP became the strongest party, but was sent to opposition again, as the three socialist parties renewed their coalition. However, when the Sozialistische Front reformed its agenda and proposed to form a government with the LDP an the KP, Larissa Dreyfus became Head of Government. She repealed the anti-business laws introduced by the previous socialist government in favor of Free Market Policies, less spending and lower taxes. In the elections, her party lost 10%, scoring the worst result in its history. After 12 years as Chairwoman, she resigned from all her political positions and retreated into retirement to the rural city of Volzhaus. Asked for her reasons in an interview, she said: "My government coalition has defended its majority, but my party has suffered a severe defeat. You can not continue with business as usual when your party just lost nearly 50% of its votes. I take the responsibility for this result upon myself, and its my moral duty to draw the appropriate conclusions." Polls conducted during her tenure showed that many Dundorfians appreciated her reforms, however she was considered a weak leader. In 3233, she was offered to take over the chairmanship of the Liberaldemokratischer Frauenbund, an LDP-affiliated organization of conservative and libertarian women. Following the dissolvement of the LDP in 3243, Dreyfus first switched to the right-wing Konservative Partei before she left politics in 3250. In the ensuing years, she published three books, one autobiography and two political ones in which she criticized the left-wing parties in Dundorf. In 3265, she left Dundorf and moved to Haldor (Dorvik), where her husband had bought a home for their retirement. She died one year later from natural reasons. She was buried in Haldor. Political Views She generally favored Free Market Polices and Individual Rights as well as a tough stance on security issues, however she was considered as having more moderate stances on many issues compared to her predecessors Jean-Pierre Du Pont and Michelle Ehrenfeld. Her attempt to balance the divergent interests of the conservative and the libertarian factions in the area of civil rights did not work out, as there remained severe differences concerning national security and the powers of the police (whereas there was a consensus on economic issues). Category:Dundorfian peopleCategory:Dundorfian politicians